Shinichi niichan
by Iluvenis Telperien
Summary: Maki X OC... A girl and her protective big-brother-next-doors. They both grew up.
1. Prologue

Shinichi nii-chan

Genre: Romance/Humor

Pairing: Maki X OC (Hoshino Shina)

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the intellectual property of Takehiko Inoue sensei.

Author's note: This was written to answer a challenge from a friend. Oh yeah, I realized that I was very bad at titles and summaries for stories. But that doesn't matter. Right? 

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Prologue

"Stop pulling my…my hair!" The little girl's face was scrunched up in pain and she tried to hit the older boy, who merely grinned wickedly, ignoring her futile shrieks. 

"Shinichi nii-chan!" She screamed. A boy came running and ran head-on into the assaulter. The bully, caught by surprise, was flung a mile away. The six-year-old little girl stared at the nine-year-old Maki Shinichi with big teary eyes, "Shinichi 'nii-chan! You came so late!" The unchecked tears started following down her chubby cheeks in floods.

"Shina, it's okay, it's okay," Shinichi patted her head comfortingly, but Shina couldn't seem to stop crying. Well, she had cried for six whole years of her life, so he guessed it wouldn't hurt for her to cry for another three hours.

"Where were you?" She wiped her eyes violently, "Bad Shinichi nii-chan!" She punched his belly with her little pudgy fists, more tears pouring from her large hazel-brown eyes. Shinichi wondered where she obtained so much liquid to release as tears. He later decided that she was made of water.

"All right, all right, I'm sorry I'm late," He tried to dry her tears. Instead, she wailed loudly. Loud enough for their parents to come out of the house, and they looked in the direction of the playground. 

"Shinichi, did you bully little Shina again?" Mrs Maki demanded, "You are older you know, you should give way to her,"

"But Mum, I didn't…"

"Shinichi, not that I'm being fussy here, but you are a boy," Mrs Hoshino nagged, "You should be a gentleman,"

"But Aunt Chieko I…"

"Shinichi, don't shirk responsibility, one should always own up to mistakes," Mrs Maki chided gently.

And it went on.

Shinichi shot a grouchy look at Shina, who was still crying like Shinichi owed her a billion. Unfortunately, his mother caught that look, "Oh my goodness, Shinichi, what's with that look? Come in, we shall talk, one should never bear grudges against anybody, especially when it's your fault…"

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	2. Chapter 1

Shinichi nii-chan

Genre: Romance/Humor

Pairing: Maki X OC (Hoshino Shina)

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the intellectual property of Takehiko Inoue sensei.

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[Author's note: I'm getting increasingly tired of my computer's Internet browser. Everything I typed and read is rubbish. FF.net showed up as rubbish. My blog looked like rubbish. Hell, even my friends' sites looked like rubbish. The browser /is/ rubbish.]

Chapter One

"Minako, I want to give the letter to him now," Hoshino Shina whispered into her best friend's ear.

"Who? Oh, you mean Shidaka Ken? I don't think you should do that…"

"I don't care, I'm determined to let him know of my feelings," She smoothed her messy, puffy hair resolutely.

"No, no, Shina, I don't think you should do that…" Minako grasped Shina's shoulder with a hand nervously, "I don't like the look of Shidaka, and he is a gangster, I think,"

"How can that be? You are mistaken, Shidaka-kun is so handsome, and he is so suave too! How could he be a gangster?" Shina stuck firmly to her beliefs. 

"No, Shina, he smokes, don't you see? He hangs around with those horrible people who goes round thrashing up other people," Minako tried hard to stop her friend from making a wrong move on the wrong person.

"Nah…" Shina looked in the direction of Shidaka with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Shina…wait!" Minako called out desperately as Shina started walking towards Shidaka.

Meanwhile, Shidaka and his gang were discussing the next location for them to look for girls to 'play with'. His friend nudged him, "Hoy Ken, that plump little 'mouto-san is coming towards you,"

"Oh yeah?" Shidaka looked in the direction of Shina. He nearly choked with laughter as he took in the details of her fluffy, messy double pigtails, pimpled cheeks, and the pair of spectacles that were so large there wasn't much of her face left. She came up to him, blushing and stammering, "Shidaka-sempai, pl…please read this," She handed the letter to him, a hopeful look on her face.

"Let me see, what did she write?" Friend A took the letter from Shidaka. Shina wanted to protest ('How could you just let anyone read my love-letter just like that?'), but was determined to appear amiable and gentle before her beloved Shidaka.

"Dear Shidaka-senpai," Friend B announced aloud, "_Ever since I saw you on the soccer field of our school, I realized that I could not tear my eyes from you,_" He read with much exaggerated sweetness. Friend C fluttered his eyes at Shidaka, squeaking, "Aaaaah, Shidaka-kun, my _love_!"

Shidaka snorted lightly, "Cut it out, and don't make fun of imouto-chan,"

Shina nearly swooned with happiness ('Shidaka-sempai defended me!'), though she retained her composure, examining his expression at every word read out by his disgustingly bloat-headed friends. 

_"…And I would dearly like to ask you, 'would you be my boyfriend please?_'…Hahaha! This is so funny! Shidaka-sempai~!" Friend A crooned loudly. Shina told herself to ignore the laughing hyenas around her and looked at Shidaka, "Se...Sempai?"

Shidaka smiled languidly at her, lighting a cigarette in his hand, ('He smokes? How can that be?') "Sorry Imouto-chan, maybe you'd like to think about combing your hair, treating your pimples, and getting rid of that hideous pair of specs, then perhaps you'd be good for a fling with," He answered smoothly, looking at her out of cold, mocking eyes.

Shina felt her heart shatter into bits and shards. She didn't know what happened next, but she could hear herself yelling, "I HATE HANDSOME MEN! What's the big deal about being good-looking? They are all a bunch of air-headed fools who never see beyond a pretty face!" 

She spat on Shidaka's shoes and ran off, wiping her tears violently. 

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Maki sighed as he heard her run into her house with loud, choked sobs. He started picturing her unlocking the door, running in ('T…Tadai..ma…*sob*') and up the stairs, dump her bag, run down the stairs ('Okaeri Shina-chan, why do you sound so upset?') , and out of the door. "…Three…two…one…."

"SHINICHI 'NII-CHAN!!!! OPEN THE DOOR!!!" 

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"He rejected me! And said such cruel words too!" She blew her nose hard on the tissue paper that Maki offered her for the fiftieth time. Maki nodded understandingly, patting her back, "Don't cry, it's okay, it's okay,"

It only made the flood worse…all right, the flood became a waterfall, that's all. Tears gushed down her cheeks in torrents and she buried her head in Maki's chest, "SHINICHI NII-CHAN~!!!!!"…Screaming her head off.

But well, I'm jealous that she's able to cry in Maki's arms, aren't you? Hehe. But anyway, we were supposed to feel sorry for Shina. Let's mourn for five minutes over her deceased tenth infatuation.

"Shh… it's okay, it's okay…" Maki continued patting her back, "Nii-chan will find someone else for you, all right?"

"No!" She sat up, a strand of mucus suspending from her nostril. (A/N: Yuck.) "This time, I'm going to give up on handsome boys! I shall go for ugly people instead. They wouldn't look down on me and say I'm ugly."

"But Shina, being ugly doesn't mean that they'll not judge other people by their appearance," Maki told her gently.

"Nii-chan, if they look down on me, at least I'll be able to retaliate," She smiled a smile that looked worst than that when she was crying. 

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[A/N: This is one of my stories with short chapters. Hahaha. The type that I'm going to finish very fast and at the eighth chapter.]


	3. Chapter 2

Shinichi nii-chan

Genre: Romance/Humor

Pairing: Maki X OC (Hoshino Shina)

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the intellectual property of Takehiko Inoue sensei.

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Chapter Two

Maki tried not to look too emotionally traumatized. "You mean you are going after _ugly_ guys from now on?"

"Yes," She replied resolutely, a strand of mucus still suspended from her nostril. 

"But Shina…."

"Don't worry about me, Shinichi nii-chan," She smiled a little, "I'll prove to everyone else that looks aren't everything," She patted his brown hair playfully, "Though nii-chan, you are pretty cute," 

  
She hopped off the sofa, leaving the fourteen-year-old Maki blinking and wondering what had happened. In a matter of seconds, the little depressed girl had hopped out of the Maki residence back to her own house.

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~ THREE YEARS LATER ~

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"Gyaaaaaaah~ Baka Nozaru! You people cheated! How could you get your seniors back to help?!" Yelled Sakuragi.

[Kiyota:"…?" 

Jin: "…??"

Maki: "…??!!??"]

Sakuragi pointed at Maki, and started to yell again, "This old man!"

"Old man?" Maki could feel his veins throbbing again.

"Shut up, you baka!" Kiyota roared, his face redder than a monkey's bottom, "He's still in school, he's only seventeen!"

"Huh?" Sakuragi looked bewildered, "This middle-aged old man?"

"B..Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep~!" The referee whistled shrilling, "Both of you Jersey number 10s! Keep quiet before you get sent off!"

The slightly ruffled voice of Maki's filtered through the silenced gym, "Akagi looked older than I am,"

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"Hahaha…Bwahahhahhhhahahhahahahhahahahh~!" Shina laughed uncontrollably, tears rolling down her cheeks, "Nii-chan!" 

Maki turned blue, "Stop laughing already," 

" 'Akagi looked older…' " She quoted, "Hahahahahahahahahaha! Shinichi nii-chan, I never thought you'd be taken for a middle-aged man," She looked up and down at Maki, who was sitting on his sofa, looking _slightly_ pissed off. 

He had bathed and changed into clean clothes, which were a large Tee shirt that looked over sized even on _him_, and Bermudas. She flopped down on the spot beside him, "Shinichi nii-chan, do you have any snacks in the house?"

"Yeah, pop over to the fr…" He sighed as she skipped off into the kitchen, "WATCH YOUR WEIGHT!"

Shina had started a long search for ugly boys that she could pester, and much to Maki's horror, she had absolutely horrid looking people sending her home every day. She wasn't exactly that pretty, if you'd call buckteeth, pimply faces, messy hair (that resembled a bird's nest) and slightly rounded figures pretty. But she wasn't too ugly either. She had really nice sweet brown eyes that only he seemed to notice. Also, she had a cute smile. 

"I say, do you have any plans for the future?" Maki asked as she sat down beside him.

"Future? Hm… I want to go to your school, go to Tokyo University…" Shina replied thoughtfully, biting into a flake of potato chip, "…Then I'll go over to the USA to study Psychology."

"USA?" Maki raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I am going to leave Japan for a while," She smiled, "Don't miss me,"

He felt a trickle of sweat slide down the side of his cheek and wondered how that came about since the weather was cool. 

"USA?" He repeated.

"Yes," She passed him a potato chip, "Don't look so depressed,"

"Don't worry, I'm not," Maki scowled uncharacteristically, making her laugh out loud.

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"Shina, I'm not picking on your boyfriends, but this one…" Maki frowned, looking out of the window.

"Huh? You are talking about Ookutsu? He's a nice person," Shina frowned too, defending her boyfriend. 

"Okay, at least, tell him to comb his hair,"

"I like his hair the way it is, what's wrong with it?"

"It's totally…ugh…" Maki made a weird face, "His eyes are already so tiny, that hair covered even the mere bit of eyes that he had,"

"Shinichi nii-chan, I didn't ask for your comment on my personal preference," Shina replied shrilly.

"Okay, okay," He gestured soothingly, "I said nothing, but really…" He kept quiet upon her dark look again.

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~ ONE YEAR LATER ~

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"Shina?" Maki popped his head into the classroom and saw the petite girl sitting by the window. He went over to her. She put an arm around his neck briefly as a gesture of welcome, absently, and went back to her work.

"Loads of work?" He asked, concerned.

"Yes~" She sighed, "Shinichi nii-chan, I don't understand how you managed to cope with it all,"

"Oh, it's just time management," He smiled consolingly.

The bell went.

"Looks like I have to go," Maki patted her head, "Ganbatte," 

"Ja, nii-chan," She hugged his arm and clung onto it like a koala bear, "Nii-chan, do drop by some times okay?"

"Okay," He ruffled her hair, "Lookie, I really have to go."

"Ja…"

When Maki walked out of the classroom, he met the teacher who was just coming in.

"Maki? How come you are here?" The teacher smiled at his favorite student.

"I came to visit Shina, she's the little-girl-next-door that I had to look after," He returned the smile warmly, "My lessons start in another half hour's time, I got to rush," 

"All right, do drop by when you are free." The teacher patted Maki's shoulder affectionately.

The students in class stared at Shina, at the teacher, and at Maki.

"Shina, who's he? The sensei likes him so much!"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"Couldn't be… How could Shina have a boyfriend _that_ devastatingly sexy?" 

"HEY~ what do you mean?" Shina pouted, "But he's not my boyfriend, hehe," She laughed, "He's my neighbour. The Onii-chan-next-doors,"

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[Author's note: If you are wondering why I'm skipping the years so fast, it's because the main focus would be on their grown-up years. Have fun reading it.]


	4. Chapter 3

Shinichi nii-chan

Genre: Romance/Humor

Pairing: Maki X OC (Hoshino Shina)

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the intellectual property of Takehiko Inoue sensei.

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Chapter Three

Maki was scribbling stuff on his notes intensely. The lecturer droned on and on without any interesting points to his lecture. His classmates were already sighing and complaining under their breaths.

"The lesson barely started…"

"…*grumble* how are we going to survive this semester, I wonder…"

The lecture theatre door flung open, a tall lanky boy stepped in. He had thinly trimmed hair tucked behind his ears, and had long straight eyebrows that matched his wide but not large eyes. Upon the first look, Maki had decided that he would be a very pretty girl if he wanted to. This newcomer was never present in their previous lectures before, so he was probably a transferee. Then everyone held their breaths, anticipating the lecturer's wrath. He never did like anyone to be late. The lecturer turned his head from the slide presentation in irritation, but when he saw the latecomer, his face broke out into a sincere smile, "AH there you are! I was wondering when you'd finally be coming," 

Almost everyone in the lecture theatre fell off his or her seats in shock. The boy remained standing in his place and bowed respectfully, "Hai, sorry for being late, Takazawa Sensei,"

"Nah, I know you just came yesterday, you need time to get round the campus, right?" The lecture actually looked happy, his usually boring and solemn face looked much kinder. 

"All right, class, this is your new classmate, Kane Akihara," 

The boy bowed at everyone in the lecture theatre slightly, "Konnichiwa, everybody, I'm Kane Akihara from Tokyo, you can just call me Kane," His voice was smooth and sensual, making most of the girls swoon. A girl was heard whispering to her friend, "Oh my lord…he looked just like a bishounen out of those mangas," 

"Right, I would like to add that Kane is the top student of this subject back in the Tokyo University, and transferred here due to certain circumstances," The lecturer introduced, "Anything you would like to ask Akihara-san?"

A girl raised her hand, "Akihara-san, do you have a girlfriend?"

Kane pinked slightly, "Eh, I'm straight,"

"WHAT?~!" Everyone nearly fell off his or her seats again, "What did you say?" A group of girls asked in disbelief.

"I said, I'm straight, and not a lesbian," She pulled the edges of her huge jacket, with two bright pink spots on her tanned cheeks. 

"Which means, you are a girl," The girl who had asked the question fell back into her seat, obviously disappointed.

"Yes," Kane nodded, her originally slightly pink face returning to normal, or rather, an expressionless face.

Maki started laughing, "A very pretty boy," 

That softened the awkward atmosphere in the lecture theatre and everyone started laughing with Maki. Kane was secretly thankful that he had done that. The lecturer shook his head, patting Kane's shoulders, "Kane-chan, told you that you should have left your hair alone," Owing to the weird looks from his students, the lecturer cleared his throat a little uncomfortably, "Eh, I forgot to add, Kane's my niece. Can we get back to the lecture?"

Kane moved up the steps and found a seat effortlessly in a row in front, since everyone sat as far back as possible. She happened to settle beside Maki, who gave her a friendly smile.

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"Interesting hair," Maki grinned, packing up his things.

"Thank you," Kane smiled a little.

"No wonder we all thought you were a boy," 

"It's not the first time, right, I got to go," She slung her bag over her shoulder and tapped her way down the steps and out of the lecture theatre. Maki shook his head and nudged his friend who was staring at Kane with his mouth wide-open.

"She's out of the lecture theatre now, you can shut your jaws, Hiroshi,"

"Know what, Maki," Fujitaka Hiroshi spoke in a hushed voice, "From my experience on girls, she'd be a hot chick if she'd just take off that jacket, leave her hair long, and wear more fitting clothes,"

"Oh really," Replied Maki, apparently unconcerned, "Tell her that,"

"Are you crazy? She looked like someone who knows Tae-Kwon-Do or is a Judo lightweight champion or something like that, she'd murder me if I tried to suggest that she'll look…tsk,tsk,tsk…absolutely…tsk,tsk,tsk…" Hiroshi scrunched up his good-looking face, trying to emphasize his point.

"Yes, yes, she'll look absolutely tsktsktsk," Maki rolled his eyes, "Quit that! You looked like a pervert,"

"…tsk,tsk,tsk…HEY!"

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Kane dug into her food hungrily, ignoring the stares from people all over the place. She knew that they are still contemplating her gender. Someone stood in front of her and cleared his throat. It was Maki. Kane nodded in acknowledgement. He settled down, "They were asking me if you used perfume," He joked.

"Heh," She shook her head, continuing to eat, "Maybe I should just come in bikini tomorrow, so that they'll stop wondering if I actually have breasts or not,"

"Eh," Maki turned red, not used to such blatancy from a girl.

"Did I scare you?" She eyed him, raising an eyebrow, "Sorry,"

"Eheh, just not used to a girl talking of her…ahem…eh…" Maki touched his nose unconsciously, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Assets," Kane spooned the last grain of rice into her mouth. She turned her bento box in a gesture saying 'Yay I finished every single crumb of my food, nyahahaha', and cocked her head slightly, "Right there, old boy, I got to rush, still have three research papers to complete, catch you later."

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"Hey Shina, you won't believe this, there was this new girl in my class…"

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[Author's note: Nyahhahahahahhahahhahaha~! Appearance of a new OC! Nyhahahahahahahahahahhaha! Which means that this story would probably be extended for a few more chapters! Nyhahahahahahhahahaahahhaha! Oh and Si En…*smiles very sweetly and innocently* Oooohlalallalallala….]


	5. Chapter 4

Shinichi nii-chan

Genre: Romance/Humor

Pairing: Maki X OC (Hoshino Shina)

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the intellectual property of Takehiko Inoue sensei.

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Chapter Four

"Shinichi nii-chan~~~" Shina's voice drifted into Maki's room before she even attempted to climb the stairs. Maki sighed and put down his notes, listening to how she stomped her way up the stairs. He wondered when the steps would collapse. It wouldn't look nice if little Shina ended up sitting on a pile of cement and wood wondering what had happened before she tried to make her way up Maki's stairs. However, that's not the main point.

"SHINICHI NII-CHAN~~!!" She burst into Maki's room and flung herself headlong onto his king-sized bed, "Do you think I should re-bond my hair?"

"Re-bond as in sitting in the salon for hours and iron out your hair?"

"Something like that," She tugged at strands of her puffy, wiry hair, "I'm tired of WWC!"

"What is WWC?"

"War With Combs. Do you think I'll look good with re-bonded hair?"

"Sure," Maki shrugged, moving back to his work.

"So when I go to university I'll look like just any other sweet, pretty freshmen," Shina grinned blissfully.

"And grab the attention of boys?" Maki smiled, though he felt something strange when she mentioned going to university. It would mean that she had to leave home. He guessed that he would probably miss her, since he had been with her all his life. 

"Not in the way your Kane Akihara does," She rolled over, looking at Maki from an upside-down point of view. 

"Kane," He laughed, "Did not spike her hair just to grab attention of boys, she doesn't give a damn about them,"

"Not even you, sexy nii-chan?" Shina teased.

"I can't believe you just said that!" Maki stopped what he was writing and turned to glare at Shina, "Do not harbour ill intentions against my virgin body,"

"Nii-chan, you are still a…a…" Shina looked incredulous.

"What's the big deal," Maki's nose turned red. He decided that writing his Economics notes would be safer than a conversation with the insane individual mutilating his meticulously made bed.

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"No…you do it like this…" Kane snatched the pen from Fujitaka and started writing the solutions to the question. Fujitaka stared at her dreamily, and it was pretty obvious that he wasn't interested in finding out the solutions to the problem.

"There you go, understand?" She put the pen down.

"Aye…" He replied, albeit absent-mindedly.

"Are you listening or not?" Kane frowned hard.

('_She looked good even when she frowns…_')

"Aye…"

Angry that he was not vaguely paying attention, Kane gathered her notes in a sweeping motion and clipped them into her folio before standing up to leave. The chair that she sat on was pushed away violently. When he finally realized what was going on, Fujitaka caught up with her, "Kane…"

"There's no point in trying to help someone who does not even have the interest in whatever I want to say, and I don't have the time to waste with you," She flared. If looks could kill, Fujitaka would be deader than a block of wood. 

"Look Kane, I'm really sorry, I was…" He tried to find a reason.

"Shut. Up." Kane told him off firmly before quickening her steps towards the locker room. She still had something on.

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"Oh my god, is that you, Shina?" Maki stared at the petite girl, who now had shoulder-length straight hair. The whole treatment process was long and tedious, lasting for about five hours. There was still a protein-treatment process that she had to go through to complete the entire re-bonding treatment, but that would be due only a week later. She looked quite different, apart from the fact that she still had pimples splattered across her nose and forehead, with thick blue-rimmed glasses camouflaging her large brown eyes. 

"Whoah," Maki touched her hair. It felt smooth and silky. Shina looked up at him, eyes shimmering in bliss, "Don't you think I looked so much better, Shinichi nii-chan?" 

"Yeah, you do…" His voice trailed off. He missed messing up her puffy hair already. At least he got to tug her pigtails in the past, but now her hair would be so smooth that a tug would take the braids off, an action, which would get her screaming in fury, and ignore him for days.

"You still looked chubby," He pinched her cheeks playfully. Shina sighed, "Can't help it, Shinichi nii-chan, that's puppy fat,"

"Oh really," He raised his eyebrows skeptically, "I hope it is,"

"What do you mean!" She glared at him indignantly, fingering her hair unconsciously.

"Nothing," He shrugged.

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"Nee-chan!" A little bundle of energy whipped his way into Kane's arms as she opened the door. 

"Heyah, Ryuu-chan, how are you today?" Kane nuzzled her seven-year-old little brother affectionately, "Are you a good boy?"

"I learnt ten words today!" Ryuuchi announced proudly to his eldest sister.

"Good~ Let Nee-chan kiss you," She smacked a kiss on his cherubic cheek loudly. Ryuuchi grinned happily and dragged her into the house. 

"Gomen ne Ryuu-chan, you go and play with Mina-chan alright? Nee-chan's got to do work," She ruffled his soft downy head lovingly.

"All right, Nee-chan…" 

"What took you?" Mrs. Akihara glared at her daughter as she moved into the kitchen, "Fooling around as usual, I know,"

"I had lessons, 'kaa-san, you knew it," Kane replied tiredly.

"Ch, who knows what you are up to," Mrs. Akihara snorted scornfully. 

Kane had never shared a good relationship with her parents. They had wished for a boy when they had their first child. Both Mr and Mrs Akihara agreed the name of the 'son' that they wanted to be 'Kane', without realizing that she was going to be a daughter. She was brought up like the son they never had, before Ryuuchi was born. 

By the time they really had a son, Kane was already an independent youth with her character and physique molded to be like that of a boy's. She became rebellious, even though she remained at home every night to help with housework. She learnt to refute her parents' statements rudely, which made the confliction between the parents' and her worse. Despite the way her parents treated her, Kane never bore hatred towards her parents. She wanted their love and attention, and she used to think that by being rude to them she could get more of their attention.  Time had proved that it wasn't to be so, and her parents were angry and frustrated at the way she behaved. 

It was the lack of true communication, but neither party realized it. If they would just open up and talk to each other, things may be different. 

Kane was previously a student in the Tokyo University. Her grades were good enough for her to enroll there, and she had thought that by going away she could avoid getting into more conflicts with her parents. 

  
A mail from her uncle (the lecturer) informed her that her father contracted cancer, and may not live too long. Her parents didn't know that she knew of the situation and were still under the belief that she came back to Kanagawa because she was lazy and could not cope with work in the prestigious university. 

After so many years at war with her parents, Kane was tired of trying to explain things, and she had realized that she should probably try to care more for her parents and make things up by helping out at home. 

She loved Ryuuchi whole-heartedly – he was the only person at home who shows her his affections openly. 

The telephone rang and Kane went to answer it.

"Akihara residence, Kane speaking,"

"Kane? It's Fujitaka here, I'm sorry that I wasn't paying attention just now, I…"

"Look, you don't need to explain anything, I was supposed to pick the groceries up and come home to my brother who hadn't seen me for twelve hours of the day, you wasted another hour of my time,"

"Kane, I'm really sorry, it's just that I really like you and…"

"No I'm sorry Fujitaka, you'll just have to look else where. I want to spend as much time with my family as possible, and not waste time on a Casanova like you," 

"Kane…"

"If you want to know, I love my parents and brother more than anything else. Get it? I don't care if I don't get a boyfriend ever in my lifetime, but I want to treasure my family with all of my time. Boyfriends are not in, not when they'll probably waste some more quality time of mine when I could spend it with cooking for the family or coaching Ryuuchi on Taekwondo. Sorry Fujitaka, bye," 

She heaved a deep sigh of exhaustion as she replaced the receiver. When she turned, her mother was standing behind her. She had apparently heard most of the conversation. 

Kane stared awkwardly at her mother, and both of them remained silent. The air seemed to fizzle and crackle. 

"Nee-chan, I didn't know how to do this question…" Little Ryuuchi came out of his room.

"Eh, right, c'mon, Nee-chan will help you…" Grateful for the distraction, Kane ushered Ryuuchi into his room hurriedly. Her mother just stood there, looking at the slender figure with meticulously spiked short hair. She never knew…

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Kogure picked a carton of milk off the shelves and checked the expiry date before placing it in his shopping cart. Women who passed by gave him admiring looks. It wasn't every day that a young man would do household shopping. Most probably, he would know how to cook as well. Ah, speaking of perfect men!

He walked past the storage of chilled meat on the shelves, looking through the large variety of meat carefully. A wallet tumbled out from the handbag, which belonged to a girl walking in front of him. "Excuse me, Miss, you dropped your…"

Kogure's eyes widened in recognition when he saw the girl's face. He remembered. The last time when the senior basketball players from the four major high school teams were invited over to Maki's house for a graduation gathering, he had seen the girl fluttering in and out of the kitchen, helping Maki with the food and preparation. Maki had addressed her rather affectionately, and she calls him 'Shinichi nii-chan'. 

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[Author's notes: This is a rather long chapter, for my standards. I can't help it. There were so much work in school, and can you believe it, the more work I have, the more muse I have for writing. Keep me bored and I'll never write a single word. ^__^]


	6. Chapter 5

Shinichi nii-chan

Genre: Romance/Humor

Pairing: Maki X OC (Hoshino Shina)

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the intellectual property of Takehiko Inoue sensei.

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Chapter Five

"Kane, I think…we need to talk," Mrs Akihara walked into Kane's room a little uneasily. She noticed a Kanji scroll with the word 'Sword' on it. She also saw that the room was scrupulously clean, a clear reflection on the room owner's character. 

"…" Kane looked at her mother, her emotions lightened by the fact that her mother had actually offered to have a quiet talk with her. For the first time in years, Mrs Akihara dropped the angry and grim expression she wore, when she opened her mouth to speak to Kane. For the first time in years, she faced Kane without yelling at her. 

"I heard what you told your friend over the phone, Kane,"

"I merely told him what I truly felt," She replied coolly, but honestly.

"To be frank, your Dad and I never understood why you turned rebellious. You were a sweet child when you were young. All of a sudden, you misbehaved at school and created problems for the teachers. We had complaints tossed in by the neighbours daily. After you got into junior high, you decided to wear the male school uniform instead of the female. The school disciplinary department rang us up almost daily to ask us to persuade you, to wear the girls' uniform."

Kane sat on the bed, beside her mother. She lowered her head to think hard. 

"I just wanted you to pay attention to me, Mum. You and Dad were both so busy. You couldn't possibly imagine my despair of coming home to an empty house all the time. I was tired of having dinner alone. I was tired of being ignored by both of you just because you were too worn-out to chat with me. I was hoping that if the teachers made the complaints, you would stay to listen to whatever I had to tell you."

"And we never did listen," Mrs Akihara replied sadly. Her husband flew into horrible rages whenever the complaints from the teachers came in and Kane got nothing more than a severe beating. They hollered at her practically everyday. Ryuuchi was only a toddler then, and he cried each time they started those rows. 

"Then I cut my hair short and I dressed as a boy. I thought that you had always wanted me to be a boy. That was what you had wanted, was it not? My name…even my name was a boy's name. I imagined that if I acted like what you wanted me to be, you would love me more,"

"But I always loved you, my dear Kane-chan," Mrs Akihara burst into tears, pulling her daughter close. Kane felt the warm tears falling across her cheeks. She hadn't cried in years. Not since she started to behave and dress like a boy. Tears betray weakness. Tears are sissy. But now she felt weak and soft, and she wanted no more than to cry in her mother's arms.

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Shina stared at the pleasant looking boy before her, and thought that he looked familiar. Kogure stared back at her, "You are Maki's little friend, aren't you?"

"Yes, you are…?"  
"Kogure Kiminobu, ex-player of the Shohoku basketball team. I'm also in Kanagawa University,"

"Oh! So you are Shinichi nii-chan's friend!" Shina beamed, "Nice to meet you again, then,"

"Same here, you doing your shopping?" He asked, eyeing the shopping cart full of groceries.

"Yup,"

"How are you going to get all these things home?" Kogure asked curiously. Those things didn't seem light enough for this petite girl to handle. 

"Oh damn…I forgot about that!" Shina covered her mouth in horror. She couldn't replace those things because she didn't want to make a second trip back, but she knew that she wouldn't have the strength to carry them back.

"I think I better help you with those, I drove my father's car here,"

"In this case, thank you so much!" 

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"My dear girl, we did want a boy, yes, but it doesn't really matter now, you see," Mrs Akihara stroked Kane's short, spiky hair lovingly, "You know, when I was a girl, I used to picture myself braiding my daughter's hair and dressing her up prettily. You can't do that to a boy," Kane laughed, a teardrop rolled from the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away hastily.

"Promise me to keep your hair long, all right? Then I'll braid it for you, and you'll dress like the pretty girl you are… oh Kouji, you are back," 

"What happened?" A confused Mr Akihara stood by Kane's room door, his eyes a little wet.

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Maki took notes rapidly, his pen flying across the page. All of a sudden, the Lecture Theatre door flew open. A girl with short hair dashed in. The class wondered who she was for a brief moment before she apologized to the lecturer, "I'm sorry Sensei, was caught in a traffic jam," The lecturer smiled gently at his niece. His sister (Mrs Akihara) had called him last night to tell him of the change in her relationship with Kane, she was literally sobbing with joy. 

"It's all right, Kane, just remember to come out early. It's the same for all of you, traffic jams are forgivable but you should try to avoid them by leaving home early, especially if you live far from the University," The lecturer told the class.

"Kane?" Everyone was flabbergasted. She was wearing feminine flare jeans and a sleeveless blouse. Her hair was not gelled up into spikes but was glossy and soft, framing her heart-shape face delicately. A pair of ear-studs flashed quietly at her ears. There was a different air to her.  She wore no makeup, unlike most of the other girls, but Maki thought she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Fujitaka leaned close to him, "See? I told you! She'd look -"

" -Absolutely tsktsktsk, yeah I know," Maki replied, clearly irritated by the idiotic manner Fujitaka was behaving. 

_She looked happier. The dark look to her face was gone,_ he thought. _Why is everyone changing her image now? First it was Shina, then Kane…_

"Hi," Kane flopped into the seat beside Maki, digging her notebook and stationery out. 

"You look good today," Maki whispered, his eyes trained on the lecturer's transparencies and his pen scribbling notes.

"Thanks," Kane whispered back, the tip of her pen scratching across the notebook in what you would call a neat scribble.

Fujitaka, however, had lost interest in the lesson totally, "Kane, can I have lunch with you later?"

"No,"

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"Oh Mum, he's so darn cute!" Shina gushed, her legs dangling from the high chair in her kitchen as she watched her mother flutter about. 

"I heard you," Mrs Hoshino replied patiently, her feather-brained daughter had a new crush again. She rather liked Kogure, personally, he was helpful and gentlemanly, judging from the way he helped Shina transport the groceries home. He looked like a good boy too. But Shina was overdoing it…

"Mum! Don't you think Kogure-san looked so good in those spectacles? His voice is almost dream-like! Ahh~~!!" She swooned.

"I heard you," 

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Somewhere far off, Kogure sneezed vehemently.

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[Author's notes: The chapter will end here, and I absolutely have no idea how this story will turn out. But it makes things more fun right? You readers lost concept of the pairings at the end of the story! Hm… oh yeah, and it'll probably be quite a while before the next chapter of the story is up. I'm very busy at the moment and I'll retire from FF.net officially after I've completed all my stories.]

[That's my public blog.]


	7. Chapter 6

Shinichi nii-chan

Genre: Romance/Humor

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the intellectual property of Takehiko Inoue sensei.

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Chapter Six

"Nii-chan, you've got to give me Kogure-san's telephone number! Ahh! Want…number!" Shina tugged at Maki's over-sized Tee-shirt, rambling incoherently, her eyes sparkling as she thought of the gentle, perfect man called Kogure Kiminobu.

"Really! Shina," Maki shook his head, smiling mildly. Shina's vehement swooning would probably seriously traumatize Kogure. "I can't just give you Kogure's number just like that, he wouldn't like it,"

"But Kogure-san is nice! He's so nice that he wouldn't mind, right?" Shina pleaded, her large brown puppy eyes shimmering with tears. Maki admitted defeat. He could never fight Shina and her tears (or impending tears).

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One way or another, Shina got Kogure on a date in two days' time. Maki wondered how she did it, but didn't ask. 

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"Kogure-san, actually, I admired you a lot for helping me that day, and I think that you are a really nice person. I like you a lot." 

Kogure blinked at the load of words that poured from the little girl's lips and felt a trickle of sweat roll down the side of his cheek. Shina was a pleasant, sweet girl, but he just didn't feel the same way for her. Besides, he had…

"Eh, it's okay if you didn't like me in the same way, I'm used to it," Shina tried smiling, but was a little disheartened by Kogure's solemn, contemplating expression. _At least he wouldn't scoff at me,_ she thought.

"You are a very nice girl to talk to," He replied quickly, not wishing to hurt her feelings, "But you see…I eh…"

"KIMINOBU!" Someone called out. Kogure turned to see his boyfriend coming his way and he smiled gratefully for the latter's timely interception. Shina's eyes widened. This new guy is definitely hot. He was handsome in a different way from that of Kogure, but still, very handsome. She stared at the man who had currently enveloped Kogure into a bear hug. 

"Hi, I'm Mitsui Hisashi," He smiled, after releasing a happily blushing Kogure. 

"Oh! You are Mitsui!" Shina jumped up, flushed, "Shinichi nii-chan said that you are the best three-point shooter after Jin!"

"No, I'm better than Jin," Mitsui scowled. 

Kogure shoved him, hard, and pulled him aside to whisper a few words frantically. 

Mitsui scowled even deeper.

"I'm Kiminobu's stead, you are…?"

"You are Kogure-san's …what?" Shina blinked, disbelieving what she heard.

"I'm Kiminobu's boyfriend, if it hadn't been obvious," 

**WHAM**

It was probably the worst rejection Shina had, not because the man had scoffed at her looks, but because the man already had a _boyfriend_. 

_I know that they looked hot together, but WHY KOGURE-SAN?_ She wailed mentally.

"Hoshino-san, I'm really sorry…" Kogure started.

"No, I'm NOT sorry," Mitsui scowled hard at the petite girl who was currently in a state of depression, "He's mine and don't try taking him away from me," (Kogure turned a crimson shade of red.)

"H…huh?" Shina blinked hard, "You considered me competition?" She nearly smiled. 

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Maki Shinichi did not know whether he was supposed to roll his eyes or smile in relief. Shina was taking it very well, in fact, she took it /too/ well…and in a peculiar manner too. "Nii-san, did I tell you that they looked so good together? Ahh!!" Shina babbled pointlessly, her eyes sparkling, "I can't believe Hisashi considered me competition! As if I was fit to compete with him for Kiminobu nii-san! I mean, he's so hot and handsome and everything…"

"Wait, why are you calling them Hisashi and Kiminobu nii-san?" Maki narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He didn't like the idea of /his/ Shina calling other people in close terms like that…again, he might be a tad too possessive.

"Aw, they allowed me to! Said it sounded too formal to be addressing them as something-san," She grinned happily, "Ooooh Nii-san, go to the Optician's with me tomorrow, okay? I'm getting my contact lenses~"

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[Author's notes: It does seem like this story is never going to finish within 8 chapters… maybe it will. I'll just add a sequel or something to make it more logical… or maybe I should just leave them at the start of their relationships…]


	8. Chapter 7

Shinichi nii-chan

Genre: Romance/Humor

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk is the intellectual property of Takehiko Inoue sensei.

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Chapter Seven

"_Contact lenses_? What on earth do you mean _contact lenses_?" Maki narrowed his eyes in a mixture of surprise and shock. 

Shina made an impatient click of her tongue, "I mean contact lenses. You know, those things that you put in your eyes so that you can see? C-O-N-T-A-C-T-L-E-N-S-E-S.  Repeat after me: Con-tact lens-es…"

"Yes I know what contact lenses are, don't be a moron," Maki sighed, "But why do you need to get them?"

"What, nii-chan, you actually expect me to be stuck with these horrendous glasses forever?" Shina pulled off her spectacles and glared at them through foggy vision.

"Alright, alright," Maki sighed again, "And when did you become so sassy?"

He rather missed the sweet little girl who whined more than she bit.

 "Since." Shina smiled mysteriously at him. All of a sudden Maki realized that she had grown up. No longer a pigtailed little sister running after him, whining and crying half of the time. She had not cried in a long time and was apparently more mature than she was before. 

_I guess we all grew up._

She was already 15, and next year, she will be going to the United States with her parents. (Plans for Tokyo University were dumped.) There was no guarantee of when she would come back as it depended on the length of her parents' business trip. Maki suddenly realized that he would really miss her. She took up a large part of his life and he knew that his days would look empty in her absence.

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"There, nice?" Shina turned to him, beaming expectantly. Maki blinked. For the first time in her life, Shina looked focused even without glasses. Her large brown eyes twinkled merrily.

"Eh, nice," He muttered, "Don't they twitch when you put those glasses in?" 

"I kind of got used to it, nii-chan, the optician's been helping me,"

"Oh," 

  
Shina grinned at her Shinichi nii-chan fondly. Lately, there were about a hundred girls from university who followed him home – without his knowledge, of course. Maki nearly died when he found a videotaping camera hidden in his room. Under severe interrogation, Shina admitted that the girls bribed her into planting that camera. Well, everyone wanted to see Maki Shinichi _shirtless_ and perhaps _even more_.

"You've been looking distracted lately, nii-chan," She pointed out.

"…huh?" Maki raised his head from thoughts.

"You are tired aren't you? Let's go home," She slipped her arm through his and they went off together.

Maki was left to wonder why he felt strangely warm and happy whenever Shina held his arm like that. 

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[A/N: This is really appalling. *Shakes head* I've been going on and off this fic – so often that the plot's broken in **many** places. *Sobs in despair* I will finish this next chapter and send Shina off to USA. With luck, I might be able to continue with a **better** story that follows when Shina comes back. Meanwhile, let this be a note for all writers – long hiatuses are not good.]


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